32 years of Winnipeg Fringe programs

Browse through the covers of the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival programs, going all the way back to the beginning.

Spikey Loves the Fringe event set for July 11

Joy Winter-Schmidt loves the theatre.

So it’s fitting that she’s one of the key organizers of the Spikey Loves the Fringe event, which will be held from 7 to 10 p.m. on Thurs., July 11 at X-Cues Cafe & Lounge, which is located at 551 Sargent Ave. Tickets are $10, and doors will open at 6:30 p.m.

Billed as an evening of singing and celebration, the event is a fundraiser for Spikey Productions — a longtime project that is close to Winter-Schmidt’s heart. At the upcoming event, the St. Vital resident — who is Spikey Productions’ writer and former producer and director — will be officially handing the baton to director (choral and stage) Coral Militere, and producer and artistic director Kristina Cummins. Winter-Schmidt will stay on as a consultant.

“I will officially pass the torch on to these two very talented, passionate, brilliant and dedicated young ladies,” Winter-Schmidt said.

Games for festival fun

Summer is here and our province will be celebrating the warm weather with outdoor events such as the Winnipeg Folk Festival and Winnipeg Fringe Festival, just to name a few. We’ll be hanging out with friends and family, soaking in the sunshine and relaxing on our lawn chairs or blankets. What’s not to like?!

Ever thought about adding some board games to the experience? There are good people around you with some time to spare, plenty of sunshine and amazing background entertainment; I mean, the setting is perfect.

Let’s look at some great games you can bring along and introduce to your festival pals.

One of the main concerns, of course, is size. Most of us are probably just bringing a backpack or bag for the day, so carrying a couple of large board game boxes is probably not the easiest thing to do. Luckily, there are some incredible games that are only slightly larger than your smartphone. There are tons of games out there that come in a compact 13x10x2 centimetre box.

Indigenous community welcomed in from the Fringe

For the first time in history, treaty is at the Fringe.

“I wish I could do more,” says Captain Braggadocio, host of the Manitoba Fringe Theatre Festival’s mainstage event. “It’s a start to reconciliation.”

The festival is officially acknowledging it takes place on Treaty 1 territory.

In doing so, it joins other community organizations, such as the Winnipeg Jets and the University of Manitoba,that make similar acknowledgements.

Fringe benefits

There are free shows daily at Old Market Square as part of the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. We checked out some of the acts on Tuesday.

Performer brings puzzle room to the fest

A performer who has branched out into the escape-room business has brought one to this year’s Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival to see if fringe-goers can solve his puzzles and crack his codes.

Richard Maritzer, who plays Cyranose de Bivouac in the outlandish comedy Sound & Fury’s Cyranose at the West End Cultural Centre (Venue 20) for all 10 evenings of the fringe fest, has also set up The Speakeasy from his company, Escape Room Treasure Hunt, at the WECC. Sessions run until Saturday, July 28.

Maritzer got into the escape-room business about three years ago; he had tried several and figured he could create a better experience. He took them on the road when Sound & Fury went to perform at fringe festivals in Australia and they were so successful, he moved from Los Angeles to Houston to set up a permanent business in the Lone Star State.

A second business, to go along with acting, became an economic necessity, Maritzer says. When L.A.’s Sound & Fury first made their way to the Winnipeg fringe, Canada’s loonie and the U.S. greenback were roughly at par, so producing and acting in fringe shows was a solid financial business for American actors. But these days, with Canada’s dollar worth a paltry 76 cents when converted to the U.S. buck, many fringe performers are resorting to acting in two or three different shows, or in Maritzer’s case, introducing a new side business, to make up the slack.

Pixels: animation, with a twist

A new improv show at the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival that uses cutting-edge animation technology has sparked a dispute over who owns the innovative concept.

Stephen Sim and Caitlyn Curtis, who reproduce the comedy of George Burns and Gracie Allen at the Pantages Playhouse Theatre (Venue 4) in Burns & Allen — A Loving Tribute, also rise to the challenge of doing a second fringe show, Pixels, at the Platform Centre (Venue 24).

“It’s real-time animation,” said Sim of the latter show. “We’re both on stage, we’re talking to the audience, getting inspiration.

“And then we have (virtual-reality) helmets and the VR joysticks,” Curtis said. “Those are all motion-capturing us, so our bodies are puppetting the cartoon characters that are being projected.